Asthma

Nonhormonal treatment regimens, including anthracycline-based regimens and taxanes, have improved overall survival in women with advanced (metastatic or recurrent inoperable) breast cancer over the last 35 years, according to a systematic review published December 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Numerous regimens have been tested in advanced breast cancer. However, each

Death from asthma is uncommon. Available mortality statistics for the United States indicate a death rate of approximately 0.3 per 100,000 persons.

The available information on the clinical course of asthma suggests that somewhere between 50 to 80 percent of all patients can expect to have a reasonably good prognosis, particularly those whose disease is mild and develops in childhood. The number of children still having asthma 7 to 10 years after the initial diagnosis varies from 26 to 78 percent with an average of 46 percent; however, the percentage who continue to have severe disease is relatively low (6 to 19 percent). The natural course of asthma in adult life has been little investigated. Some studies suggest that spontaneous remissions occur in approximately 20 percent of those who develop the disease as adults and 40 percent or so can be expected to improve with less frequent and severe attacks as they grow older.

Tufts researchers and colleagues report that place of birth plays a role in the occurrence of asthma in a United States black population. The researchers found that within one inner-city population, blacks born in the United States were more likely to have asthma than blacks who were born outside of the United States. “Within Asian

The following is GlaxoSmithKline’s statement regarding recommendations of a combined Advisory Committee to the FDA on the use of asthma medicines containing long-acting beta agonists, including GSK’s Serevent (salmeterol) and Advair (salmeterol/fluticasone proprionate). “We welcome the committee’s endorsement of Advair as a safe and effective treatment for asthma in adults and children,” said Dr. Ellen

Up to 150,000 people suffering from severe asthma in the UK could benefit from taking antifungal medication already available from pharmacists, new research has found. University of Manchester scientists found that pills used to treat everyday fungal infections greatly improved symptoms of asthma in those patients that had an allergic reaction to one or more

Asthma is one the main causes of pediatric hospital admissions, both nationally and locally. Last year, there were 900 asthma-related visits to the Pediatric Emergency Department at Golisano Children’s Hospital. Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong is working to lower that number. Asthma care can be complicated, but the hospital is working with area organizations

Women can usually keep using the same asthma drugs they were using before they got pregnant. Budesonide sprays are the best studied and can be regarded as safe. More trials of other essential medicines are necessary however. According to the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), more data from trials could